Egg baker



Augl5, 1950 c. M. osrERHELD 2,518,566

EGG BAKER' Filed April 5 l1945 3 sheets-sheet 1 IOS Inventor:

C. M. OSrheLO/l.

Au8- 15, 1950 j c. M, osrl-:RHELD 2,518,566

EGG Bmx Filed April 5, 1945 s sheets-sheet 2 Invenl'or: C. M. Osterheld Patented Aug. 15, 1950 EGG BAKER `Clark M. Oisterheld, Stoughton, Wis., assigner to f McGraw Electric Company, Elgin, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Application April 5, 1945, Serial No. 586,713

(Cl. 21S- 44) 2 Claims. Y 1

My invention relates toccoking appliances and particularly to electrically operated egg cookers.

An object of my invention is to provide a relatively simple electrically operated egg cookerhaving a minimum number of parts.

Another object of my invention is to provide a casing adapted to contain the eggs to be cooked as well as a measured quantity of water which is evaporated by an electrical heating element, the eggs being cooked by subjection to steam.

Another object of my invention is to provide an automatic electric cut-out effective upon evaporation of the measured quantity of water to deenergize the electric heating element and to maintain itself in open position until manually reclosed.

Other objects of my invention will either be apparent from a description of one form of device embodying my invention or will be pointed out in the course of such description and be set forth in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Figure l is a side elevational view of an egg baker with lower parts broken away to show the snap-acting cut-out in open position,

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view therethrough taken on the line 2-2of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a vertical, sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 4 with the parts shown at the start of an operating cycle,

Fig. 4 is a horizontal, sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the egg tray,

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the steam baille plate,

Fig. 7 is an enlarged view of the bridging member of the electric cut-out taken on the line 'I-'i of Fig. 2, and,

Fig. 8 is a wiring diagram.

My improved egg cooker or baker comprises a relatively shallow casing I0, a cover member IS, an inverted cup-shaped casing I5 for supporting and retaining casing I0, and a supporting base member I6. The open end of the shallow casing Iii has an outwardly extending circumferential rim Il that is provided with a perpendicular lip I2 to form both an enclosure and a support for the interlitting cover I3. Preferably, although not necessarily, I make members Ill, i3, and I5 of formed sheet metal. portion or base I4 of casing HJ is substantially of depressed fiat shape having its central portion pressed downwardly to form an open ended extension portion I1 of inverted cone-shape. The

upper end or face surface I9 of supporting mem- The lower f ber I5 isv also of depressed flat shape and has a small open ended central portion 2 I, slightly depressed, also of cone-shape, adapted to engage the lower end portion I'I of the casing I0, While at the same time the casing will be supported by member I5 through the partial engagement of a portion of their respective circumferential walls.

I provide an electric heating element designated generally by numeral 23 which electric heating element is adapted to be positioned between the lower ilat central portion of casing I 0 and the portion I9 of the support I5. The heating element may include an upper thin annular sheet 25 of mica, a. lower thin annular sheet 2'I also of mica, and an. intermediate annular sheet of mica on which is wound a resistor strip 29 of suitable resistor material. This provides a substantially annular electric heating element which is positioned as stated hereinbefore.

I provide further a clamping member 3l, of generally bolt shape, the upper end portion of which is provided with external screw threads for a purpose which will hereinafter appear and which is provided also with an intermediate portion 33 which is oi relatively larger diameter at its upper end to fit into the central portion Il of the casing Ill. The lower end portion 35 of clamping member 3l. is of reduced diameter and is provided with screw threads to receive a clamping nut 3l which is effective to tightly'compress portion 2i into close fluid-tight operative engagement with the lower end of portion Il.

A steam baille plate has a central screwthreaded portion which is adapted to be screwed onto the upper screw-threaded portion of clamping member 3i until the outer periphery of mem,- ber 39 rests upon the upper surface of the intermediate portion of casing iQ. The member 3 9 is provided with a plurality of openings 4I to permit upward new or" steam which is generated by the electric heating element 23 when a measured quantity of water s is placed in the container IU.

An egg supporting plate l5 shown in top plan view in Fig. 5 of the drawings is provided with a plurality of egg receiving openings 4'.' therein and I have elected to show four such openings, each one of which is provided with three inwardly projecting portions so that an egg 69 supported by plate will have engagement with plate 45 at three points only and it will be noted that the peripheral extent of these egg supporting portions 5I is relatively very small. rThe steam generated from the measured quantity of portion 2l df Support l5 by nut 37.

water 43 in casing I0 and flowing upwardly will therefore flow along substantially the entire outer surface of each egg supported by the egg supporting plate 45.

I provide further a cover I3 which has suitably secured thereto a handle member 53, which handle member is held in its proper operative position as by' a spring ring 55 having interfltting and interlocking engagement with that portion of handle 53 extending through `and below the cover I3.

I provide further an automatic electric cut=out designated generally by numeral 51, which is supported by a metal bar 59 which has a central portion through which bolt 3l may extend, said bar being held in coordinating alinement with the switch closure means by having in said bar a pair of circular indents 50 engaging similarly shaped indents in plate I9 and which is held in tight heat transmitting engagement with the In order to strengthen the metallic support 59, I have pro-v vided indented portions 5I and IS3 on opposite sides of member 59.

The cuteout comprises a first bim'etal bar 55, one end of which is supported by, say the left hand end portion of metal member 59 and is held in proper operative position thereon as by a paii` of vheaded bolts 5l',- each one having a nut 69 screwed therein.

The movable end portion of member 65 is provided with a central slot Il and each of the two side portions of the bimetal bar B3 is provided with pivot plates i3, each of the pivot plates 'i3 having an indentation therein to receive the sharpened end portions of a second bimetal har I5 which also has a longitudinally extending slot 'I'I therein at its left hand end portion. An overcenter spring I9 has its ends connected to the respective bimetal elements 65 and 'l'. adjacent the ends of the recesses 'Il and 'Il'. A Contact bridging member having two contacts Si and 83 thereon electrically connected by a bar 8d: is in-v sulatedly mounted on the outer free end of member 15, a washer 85 of electric-insulating material being secured to member 'i5 as by a rivet 8l. The contact bridging member comprising the two contacts 8| and 83 is adapted to operatively engage a pair of fixed contacts 89 and SI which are insulatedly mounted on member 59. The diagram of connections of the device is shown in Fig. 8 of the drawings.

The design, construction and adjustment of the thermally-actuable cut-out as by an adjusting bolt 93, is such that when moved to closed position manually as by a member 95 of 'substann tially bar shape which I1s pivotally supported as on a pin S1, which pin may be supported by a member of heat-insulating material and of substantially annular shape which is held by a plurality of screws lill against the lower edge rof support I5 to heat insulate the metallic member I5 from the upper surface of the table on which it may be placed.

Let it be assumed that a user wishes to cook two eggs to a predetermined desired degree. I-Ie will put a predetermined quantity of water 43 in vthe casing IE] and will also place the desired number of eggs On the egg support t5, will then cover `the eggs by cover I3 and will press on member v 95jas shown in dotted lines of Fig. 3 to cause closure of the switch by upward movement of the contacts l8l and 83. The design, construction and adjustment of the electric snap-acting cut-out comprising bimetal bars AB5 and 'I5 is such that upward movement of the inner end of member will cause engagement of the contacts `3l and 83 with the xed contacts 89 and 9| and energization of the heating resistor 29 assuming, of course, that the twin conductor cord H33 has been connected to a suitable source of supply of electric energy. Since it is necessary to use only a relatively thinv walled container I0 and its support I5, the water 43 will be quickly brought to the boiling point and steam will be generated, which steam will rise upwardly and now outwardly through the openings 4I and up past the eggs in the openings lll in the support 45 and then outwardly through a vent HB5. As long as there is` any water left in the casing le below baflle plate 35, this generation and upward now of steam will continue. However, `as soon as all of the water placed initially in the casing IEJ has been evaporated, the clamping bolt 3l will begin to experience a. quick rise of temperature beyond 212 and this temperature will be transmitted particularly to the bimetal bar 5 with the result that the bimetal'bar as shown in Fig. 3 will move from the full line position to the dotted `iirie position so that the contact members 8l and `83 will be moved quickly out ofl engagement with nxed contacts `il!) and 9! and the bimetal bar and con-A tacts 8l and 83 will -inove to the full line p'oslyq tion shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, thereby deenergizing the heating element comprising there sistor member 29.

The contacts 8l and 83 will remain in their open position until they are reclosed for a second or succeeding operation after another measured quantity 13 of water has been supplied and one or more eggs 49 placed in the device ready for cooking when a quick downward pressure on member 95 will cause movement of contacts BI and 83 into engagement with Xed contacts 39 and 9 I.

The device embodying my invention therefore provides a relatively simple egg cooking or baking device, the degree of baking o-f the eggs being proportional to the quantity of water which is placed in container IE. If one user desires to have, say soft boiled eggs, he will put in a measured quantity, say two or three teaspoons'- lful of water while if another user desires hard boiled eggs, yhe may put in four or five teaspoons ful ofr water in container I il. It is obvious that once the circuit has been closed through the resistor 29Nby pressure on member S5 on the outa side of the support I5, that the circuit will remain closed until evaporation of the water in container I0 has been effected after which the thermal cut-out will move to open position and will remain in open position through all handling to which the egg cooker may be subjected.

The thermally-actuable cut-out is not desired to, nor will it cause, deenergization of the electric heater after a 'certain predetermined length of time, but will only deenergize the heater after vaporization of substantially all of the water which was placed initially in the container of the egg baker and the degree of cooking of eggs is therefore dependent upon the quantity of water placed in casing I0.

Various modifications may be made in the device embodying my invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and all such modifications clearly coming within the scope of the appended claims `are to be considered as being covered thereby.

I claim as my invention:

1. An egg baker comprising a relatively shallow metal casing having a centrally perforated flat bottom surface, a metal base member having a perforated depressed at upper Surface, said casing and base member engaging each other along the ring-like margin of said depressed surface of said base for leaving a shallow space between said flat bottom and upper surfaces, an annular electric heating element in said shallow space, a bolt extending through the perforated bottom and upper surfaces to hold them in close operative engagement with the heating element, a metallic support held by said bolt against the under surface of said base member, .a thermallyactuable cut-out for said heating element on said metallic support adapted to move into open po- 15 sition upon vaporization of water placed in said casing above said heating element and means manually-actuable from the outside of the metal base for causing movement of the cut-out to closed position.

2. An egg baker comprising a relatively shallow metal casing having a centrally perforated flat bottom surface, a metal base member having a perforated depressed at upper surface, an annular electric heating element between said flat bottom vand upper surfaces, a bolt extending through the perforated bottom and upper surfaces to hold them in close operative engagement with the heating element, a perforated steam seal plate held by said bolt a predetermined distance above said at bottom surface, a perforated egg supporting plate held by said casing above said steam seal plate and a removable cover for said casing interitting therewith and supported thereby.

CLARK M. OSTERl-IELD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 493,422 Capek Mar. 14, 1893 1,055,882 Cubitt Mar. 11, 1913 1,060,264 Lamb Apr. 29, 1913 1,504,269 Rankin Aug. 12, 1924 1,572,991 Colby Feb. 16, 1926 1,810,650 Fay June 16, 1931 1,905,111 Lamb Apr. 25, 1933 2,057,741 Purpura Oct. 20, 1936 2,061,837 Hanks et a1 Nov. 24, 1936 2,102,342 Walder Dec. 14, 1937 2,139,267 Hashek Dec. 6, 1938 2,269,112 Jepson et al. Jan. 6, 1942 

